News Releases

Current Research

I pursue two main science thrusts: (1) climate change adaptation; and (2) ecosystem carbon cycling, with particular emphasis on soil carbon cycles. Each thrust integrates information, lessons, and perspectives from the other. The climate change thrust includes collaborative research and service as Director of the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), with responsibility for leading NIACS staff in the development of vulnerability assessments, adaptation strategy and planning documents, and other climate and carbon science delivery in support of natural resource planning, management, and decision making. The carbon cycle thrust encompasses basic research on soil carbon from multiple ecosystems using a variety of tools and methods, creating information about soil carbon movement and stabilization, and conversely, vulnerability to loss by landuse and climate change.

Major NIACS efforts include the

Climate Change Response Framework, an integrated set of tools, partnerships, and actions to support climate smart conservation and forest management. Three projects cover over 133 million acres in 9 states, in partnership with over 45 organizations, including 11 National Forests.

Climate Change Resource Center, a web-based platform providing relevant, credible information about climate change and adaptation to forest managers. NIACS helps manage the site in close collaboration with all five USFS Research Stations and the Climate Change Advisor's Office.

International Soil Carbon Network, a community-driven network created to enhance communication, collaboration, efficient use of scientific resources, and the advancement of soil carbon research.

Radiocarbon Collaborative, a formal partnership between the Forest Service, the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (CAMS), and Michigan Technological University, to support extensive radiocarbon analysis in large scale ecological studies.

In my soil carbon research, I study how organic debris (carbon) enters forest soil and is subsequently stabilized or "lost," and how this varies with forest ecology, soil mineralogy, management, natural disturbance, and climate. Much of my work uses different isotopes of carbon (14C, 13C) to increase the sensitivity of estimates of carbon flux and turnover rates. Current collaborative research addresses the primary inputs and flow paths of belowground carbon in eastern oak forests; soil organic matter stabilization in a west-to-east transect across Oregon, with differing forest types, mineralogy, and climate; and the influence of fire and charcoal on forest soil carbon storage and flux.

Research Interests

In future research I hope to: study the effects of invasive soil organisms on the carbon distribution and fluxes in northeastern forest soils; continue studying the roles of fire ecology and different carbon inputs in forest carbon cycles; work with scientists and land managers to assess ecosystem climate vulnerability, plan adaptation actions, and implement those actions on the ground in replicated treatments.

Why This Research is Important

Climate is changing and is likely to have increasing impacts on many forests as continues to change. Land managers need specific information, strategies, and tools to address increased societal emphasis on carbon management and the unique challenges of managing forests given uncertainty about the range of future climate and ensuing ecosystem responses. There is thus a clear and pressing need to bridge the gaps between broad-scale climate predictions, academic discussions of ecosystem responses, and actual management activities in forests. My work with NIACS helps bridge those gaps. My isotopic work with soil carbon is much less applied, but it is important to remember that soil carbon is a fundamental component of forest productivity and structure, strongly influencing soil fertility, resistance to erosion and compaction, and water storage and availability. Soil carbon also plays a large role in global fluxes of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. Globally, there is at least twice as much carbon in the soil as in the atmosphere, and two thirds of forest carbon is in the soil. Understanding the forms and fate of forest soil carbon can help us predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of disturbance at wide spatial and temporal scales.

NRS Director's Excellence in Science and Technology Award, 2013 The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) is recognized for its outstanding value in providing service to the forestry community by creating an array of information resources, providing direct outreach, and developing adaptation tools.

National Research Highlights

A framework for urban forest vulnerability assessment and adaptation, piloted with partners in the Chicago region, is informing master planning for urban trees in the city of Chicago and is expanding to other urban areas in the Midwest and Northeast.

The Forest Service provides nationwide support for carbon and climate research through the Radiocarbon Collaborative, which has supported a wide range of projects that have produced high-impact publications, as well as important information for land managers and conservationists. In 2017, the Radiocarbon Collaborative launched an online resource center featuring radiocarbon information and social networking opportunities.

Forest Service scientists are working to incorporate climate change considerations into urban forest management in the Chicago area. Recently, they co-sponsored, with the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, two workshops and a national conference.

Climate change will have long-term effects on forest ecosystems, and the services they provide. High-quality scientific information is critical, but this information also needs to be integrated into natural resource management. The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, a multi-institutional effort led by the Forest Service, worked with partners to create adaptation demonstrations of real-world examples of how forest owners and natural resource professionals are adapting forests to changing conditions.

It's a challenge to bring partners together, but the Forest Service led more than 130 scientists and natural resource managers in the creation of a comprehensive set of assessments on the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. Five vulnerability assessments created as a series synthesizes key information for natural resources professionals.

A team of scientists and managers from the Forest Service and other organizations assessed the vulnerability of northern Wisconsin forests to climate change. The assessment summarizes multiple scientific research efforts and synthesizes the issues most salient to land managers.

The Northern Research Station' Northern Institute of Applied Carbon Science and its cooperators---the Eastern Region, the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry---have developed an exciting new approach to preparing adaptive strategies for possible global climate changes. Although this project is focused on forests in northern Wisconsin, the participants hope that it will be a model for many regions and ecotypes. The Climate Change Response Framework Project (CCRFP) has reached out to involve not just scientists and organizational stakeholders but private forest landowners, tribal nations, and local governments in the gathering, assessing, synthesizing, and sharing of information.

The Climate Change Resource Center (CCRC) website, which has provided practical, science-based information on managing ecosystems under climate change to USFS land managers in the western United States, has been expanded to encompass a broader geography.